


trial

by AerisaHale (KarasuKyra)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 21:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11563419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarasuKyra/pseuds/AerisaHale
Summary: Sara and Nyssa are injured and on the run in the woods, cut off from everyone but each other. Nyssa's mother offers them a chance at survival, but will it be enough?





	trial

Pain lances through Sara's leg and it buckles underneath her. Her running momentum sends her sprawling to the ground. Seconds later, Nyssa is by her side, wrapping her arm around Sara's waist. The Heir screams as she pulls Sara to her feet, her broken ribs throbbing in agony. She half carries Sara as they run towards the forest.

Yelling and gunfire at their heels spurs them both on despite the pain. They run until Nyssa collapses and Sara half drags her several feet before she, too, collapses. She's whispering with the last bits of oxygen she has, “We have to keep moving. We have to—“

Sara is cut off by Nyssa gripping her forearm tightly and looking at her with panicked eyes. The blonde started to examine Nyssa's body, looking for what was causing Nyssa's immediate distress. The Heir grabs her side and gasps out, “Can't—“

“Breath with me. Breath with me.” Leaning down, Sara presses her forehead to Nyssa's and holds her panicked gaze. Between them, Sara's hand finds Nyssa's chest and holds her hand there, feeling her quick, shallow breaths. “In. And out.”

Sara levels her breathing and guides them both in a deep breathing exercise. She watches the panic lessen and lessen with every breath Nyssa takes. Once they are both breathing normally, they stumble into a standing position together and keep moving forward. If Sara strains, she can still hear their pursuers.

They keep moving as best they can for two more hours. They set small traps along the way hoping it might be enough to deter their pursuers. Their sounds behind them get less and less until it stops altogether. Then it is night. Their injuries slow them down, sometimes to a complete stop. They are on one of these particular stops when the night sky opens and rain begins pouring down.

They lay side-by-side, water and mud swirling around them. Sara reaches out and grips Nyssa's hand, deciding this will be their last moments together. The pain and exhaustion is too much. She blacks out.

–

The first thing Sara registers is pain, then dampness and heat. Realization of self descends upon her and she blinks open bleary eyes. Her entire body is throbbing with every pulse of her heart, radiating from her leg, arm, and shoulder.

There is a fire beside her. She struggles into a sitting position and surveys around her. She seems to be in a cave and it takes a moment before she finds the other occupant of the cave, slumped against a wall. “Nyssa!”

Sara ignores her body as she drags herself to Nyssa as fast as she can. Relief washes over her like a wave when she finds a heartbeat. Her hands cup tightly around Nyssa's face as she pleas with her lover to wake. When she gets no response, she stands.

Grabbing Nyssa's ankles she drags her toward the fire, whispering a mantra as she tries to put most of the weight on her good leg, “Come on, come on, come on.”

Sara lays beside her, careful not to aggravate either of their injuries and listens to Nyssa breathing, calmed with every inhale, reassured with every exhale. She drifts in and out of consciousness. Unaware of how much time has passed, she wakes to find Nyssa also awake and the fire almost nothing but embers.

All they can do is look at each other until Nyssa whispers with a cracking voice, “You have to get more firewood or we will freeze long before we are found. I found some...by the door. You'll have to go farther, Beloved.” It looks like it takes all of Nyssa's energy as her eyes droop.

Sara listens to her breathing even out before she turns her gaze toward the mouth of the cave. She drags herself outside, little by little, every movement meticulous and painstaking. It takes what feels like hours that she's dragged herself far enough from the cave to find a stick large enough to help hold her weight.

She manages a mostly vertical position and hobbles deeper into the woods. It doesn't take her as long as she feared to find suitable firewood and she uses her jacket to drag it along behind her, using the stick and her good leg to bear the brunt of the work, but it is slow and exhausting.

On her way back to the cave, she catches the sound of a stream. She leaves her litter and starts moving toward the sound, every step made through sheer power of will. Carrying the litter has exhausted her, but finding water and getting it back to the cave might make the difference between their life and death.

Tripping over something, Sara falls into the mud at the bank of the river. She crawls forward and collapses at the edge of the river. She drinks as much as she thinks she can without getting sick. Peeling her shirt off, she washes it of the dirt and uses it to soak up as much water as she can. Turning around, she finds her stick and painstakingly starts the trek back toward the litter of wood. Once she finds it, she tugs away a corner of her jacket to set her water-soaked shirt on and begins her trek back to the mouth of the cave.

Dragging her litter of firewood over to the embers, Sara grabs her shirt and carries it over to Nyssa and rouses the woman enough to instruct her to drink. Wringing the shirt out over Nyssa's mouth, Sara watches as the other woman's throat struggles to swallow and is careful that her Beloved does not choke.

Once she is satisfied Nyssa has gotten some water, she decides to sacrifice her jacket and tears off the wet portion. She uses it to begin building the fire back up until it is roaring and she feels warmth seeping back into her bones. Nyssa is out again and she crawls over to her, curling her body around Nyssa's and finds sleep again.

It is dark when Sara wakes next. Nyssa is awake beside her, pale and sweating. The blonde whispers, “Nyssa.”

“Beloved, I am glad you are alive.” Nyssa's voice is barely audible. “My mother, she saved us. She showed me the cave.”

“Your mother is dead, Nyssa.”

“I know, Beloved, but it was not just fever dreams. I know it was her.”

“She gave us a shot, but Nyssa, I don't think we're gonna make it out of this one.”

Sara stares at Nyssa, tries to convey all the love she feels for this woman and, at the same time, longs for her dad, for Laurel. She pulls Nyssa into her arms and feels her heartbeat against her own chest. She feels Nyssa grunt at the pressure, but the Heir pulls her even tighter. The world goes black.

–

Ra's al Ghul strides into the cave, flanked by League assassins. He looks down at the broken bodies of his daughter and her Beloved curled together and can't find it within himself to confirm the inevitable. A flick of his wrist has a healer pulling them apart, and checking both for a pulse.

Wide eyes look up at him and his knees just barely shake when al Mualija says, “They are alive!”


End file.
